Needs Must
by tromana
Summary: The Doctor tries to persuade Romana to leave Gallifrey again. He has a minor success. Eight/Romana II


**Title:** Needs Must  
**Author:** tromana  
**Rating:** K+  
**Characters: **Romana II/Eight  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary: **Eight tries to persuade Romana to leave Gallifrey, again.  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own Doctor Who. Life would be more interesting if I did.  
**Notes:** Semi-sequel to _Power Play,_ but makes sense without having read it. For sneakyangel.

**Needs Must**

"Oh do go away, Narvin."

"But Madame President, I must insist…"

"And insist you have, but please leave us be. Now."

Narvin could feel his President's eyes boring into his back as he shuffled out of the room. No matter how many times he complained to her about her attitude towards the Doctor, she did not listen. He couldn't help but shoot a dirty look at him as he stalked out of Romana's office. After all, that renegade's presence was another scandal simply waiting to brew across the whole damn planet.

Romana let out a heavy sigh after Narvin eventually vacated her office. The Doctor smiled and attempted to wrap an arm gently around her waist. Throwing it off, she glared at him in the same steely manner she had been gracing upon Narvin barely microspans before.

"Not now, Doctor."

"But why not now, Romana?" he enquired. "Why stay here another second? Come away with me, please?"

"I've said it before, a thousand times, and I'll say it again," Romana sighed. "I _can't_."

"There's no need to be a martyr for the planet, Romana."

"The Romana-mistress is not suffering, nor attempting to gain attention, nor dead for her cause. Therefore the term 'martyr' does not fit the…"

"Oh shut up, K9," the Doctor muttered. "You're not helping. However do you live with him?"

Romana folded her arms and sighed, again. Once, she had the patience of a saint when it came to the Doctor and his idiosyncrasies. Sometimes she wondered where it all went and then remembered she had to deal with Narvin on a day to day basis. Carefully, the Doctor attempted to touch her cheek again, but she pushed his arm away before he could.

"Just one trip?"

"I've told you, I don't have _time_."

"Negative, Mistress," K9 chirruped. "According to my databanks, you have 29.9 microspans of free time."

"_Thank_ you, K9," Romana retorted. "Which going by the Doctor's reliability at flying his TARDIS is no way near enough."

"Affirmative, Mistress. However, if you are piloting-"

"That's enough, K9!"

Romana didn't much approve of the fact that the little, her little automaton had the faithfulness of a cat. He wasn't exactly helping her cause when it came to staying on Gallifrey. Part of her knew that if she took one step onto his TARDIS, she'd never want to leave. It had been years since the Doctor had last disturbed her and part of her felt that he wouldn't be true to his promise of returning. It wasn't until she saw the blue box parked in her quarters that she realised just how much her hearts ached for him.

Maybe they were simply aching for the freedom associated with him?

"Oh come on, Romana." The Doctor bounced on his heels. "Just one trip."

"I…"

"I recognise that hint of a smile. Come on," he urged her. "Please, please, please, please, please, _please_?"

"Oh alright then," she breathed, giving up. "Only when we're returning, I'm at the controls. I don't want to return five years later."

The Doctor broke out into a smile and immediately started ushering Romana towards his TARDIS. Last time he was here, he hadn't a hope of moving her from her office, so he didn't want to waste a moment and let her change her mind. If she did, he'd be sent on his way immediately, without even receiving a goodbye kiss on the cheek.

"I can walk myself, you know?"

"Yes, but…"

"But you're acting like an over-excited Time Tot."

"Exactly!" the Doctor beamed. "Hang on…"

Romana rolled her eyes. "Come along, K9."

The Doctor opened his TARDIS with a flourish. Romana had forgotten just how obsequious he could be sometimes. Still, a break would do her good, apparently. K9 had been telling her to rest a significant number of times because, as he often said, he was programmed to protect his Mistress. She couldn't remember when that programming included her general well-being.

This TARDIS felt as welcoming as ever. It was part of the reason why whenever she gave into him, she always travelled in his antiquated model rather than the far newer ones on Gallifrey. Every time, Narvin would say he might as well start organising the memorial service immediately as the type 40s were seen as positively dangerous. Especially in the wrong hands.

"So, where are you insisting on taking me?"

"Oh I know exactly where."

Romana never much appreciated of the Doctor and his 'surprises'. Usually, they ended up being either some kind of wild goose chase or getting caught up in some kind of revolutional coup. Whilst exhilarating, she could quite easily get involved with both of them on Gallifrey, if she wasn't so busy trying to stop her High Council tearing out each other's throats.

"How far into the past are you going?" Romana asked doubtfully.

"Trust me."

"Oh I do," she muttered. "I just don't trust your methods."

The Doctor landed; surprisingly well for his attempts of late. He bounded to the door excitedly as Romana just leaned against the console glaring at him slightly. She wondered how long she could allow her face to belie her emotions for. After all, seeing the Doctor was always some kind of treat.

The door swung open.

"Doctor? What are we doing here for?"

"I thought…"

"You thought it'd be nice? The one place in the Universe I wouldn't expect to be brought? Doctor, it's _illegal_ for us to be here!"

"As President, I was fairly sure you're able to go wherever and whenever you like?"

"Within reason."

"Oh come on, Romana," the Doctor urged her. "Walk in the steps of ancestors. See the sights they saw. Your interest is piqued. I can see it in your eyes."

"I have to concede, I am interested," she sighed. "We cannot stay here long."

"Oh no, we won't. Just watch the suns set. Is that okay with our illustrious Madame President?"

"How would you know if I was illustrious or not?"

"Because you're Romana," he replied simply.

Romana rolled her eyes, lifted her robes slightly and stepped into the dust. Gallifrey's air smelled significantly different to what she was used to; it was not sterilised beyond recognition. If Leela were here, she'd be beaming and calling it 'real' whilst gulping it in by the lungful. Romana gazed up to the orange sky and smiled. She didn't jump when the Doctor placed a hand at her waist, either.

It was of a time before the Citadel had been built. Their ancestors were beginning to come together, forming Old Gallifrey. Romana had never heard her planet so quiet. They walked, hand in hand until the TARDIS was well out of sight and the Doctor motioned for her to sit.

"I should report you for this, you know."

"I know."

Romana allowed the dust to run through her fingers as her eyes traced across the horizon. The silver leaves made the light from the setting of the suns all the more spectacular. It was quite humbling, seeing one's home world before it had been developed. Before it had been ruined, perhaps. It was peaceful, quiet. Romana smiled, before pulling herself closer into the Doctor's embrace.

"You don't want to go back, do you?"

"What are you now?" Romana snorted. "A mind reader?"

She considered his sentence. Her and Braxiatel had done so much work on Gallifrey and were only just beginning to reap the benefits. To throw it all away now would be madness. Still… there were times she wished she could be as youthful and carefree as she once was.

"Well, we do have a mild form of telepathy," he reminded her.

Romana slapped him gently on the arm. "Of course I know that."

They fell into an ambient silence; neither needed to say anything. It was not until the first chills of nightfall that either felt any need to move. He took her hand, kissing it gently, tasting the salty sweetness of her skin. They walked slowly towards his TARDIS as the second sun finally extinguished the light it was distributing on the planet surface.

"You don't want to go back," the Doctor stated again as Romana clicked the TARDIS door shut. "I know you don't." When she gave no obvious reaction, he continued, "Come away with me again."

"No. I have to go back, I told you-"

"Just one trip, right? But I didn't take you anywhere, technically. So…"

"We left our timeline, that's good enough for me. I'm sorry, Doctor."

"I only want what's best for you."

"And I need to consider what's best for Gallifrey. I cannot go meandering around the Universe with you." She sighed heavily as she altered the TARDIS controls. "You need someone who can idolise you. I grew out of that a long time ago."

"No I don't, I…"

"Without it, you get bored and get people into even more unnecessary danger."

The TARDIS landed, not the smoothest of landings but considerably better than most the Doctor could manage. Going by her calculations, if she hurried, Romana would make her meeting on time. She placed a kiss on the Doctor's cheek before she reached the door.

"I know you'll be back again, there's no need for you to say it."

"Romana…"

"I need to do this. Go adopt another human or something."

She whisked out of the TARDIS and the door clicked shut. What Romana didn't see was a tear tracing a familiar path down the Doctor's cheek.


End file.
